Football
ESPN staff 9y

FIFA president Sepp Blatter the victim of conspiracy, says daughter

Sepp Blatter's daughter has defended the under-fire FIFA president, telling the BBC that he is the victim of a conspiracy.

Blatter, 79, was re-elected as FIFA chief on Friday to serve a fifth term in charge of world football's governing body.

However, the election came amid a time of crisis for the organisation as 14 people, include seven FIFA officials, were indicted on charges of wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering.

Blatter himself has spoken out against the U.S. authorities and UEFA, who backed his opponent Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, and now his daughter Corinne has come to his defence.

Asked if she believed there was a conspiracy against her father, she told the BBC: "I wouldn't say from the Americans and the British, but certainly people working behind the scenes, yes absolutely.

"I don't know if you want to call them dark forces but I mean they really tried hard, they tried in September, October last year. How can UEFA who is saying 'we are the strongest confederation,' how can they not put up a candidate?"

Blatter himself has faced no charges, but there have been calls for him to step down in the wake of the corruption allegations.

"Nobody is without fault but he's not the person who is taking money," Corinne added. "All the money he earned, he earned it by working and he is a hard working president.

"All these people who say that he takes money I don't know what kind of money he should take and he's not the kind his character is not like that, he's not taking any money.

"All these things happened just to discredit him so that he would resign. But I can tell you in about [two or three] weeks no one will talk about it anymore.

"Other news will be top and he'll work normally, as he said at the press conference [on Saturday] he had a great executive meeting and everyone is going to work together. He's also the president of those who didn't vote for him and they have to work together now."

U.S. investigators claim that in the early 2000s, the South African government promised to pay $10 million to former FIFA vice-president and CONCACAF president Jack Warner -- who surrendered to police and is out on bail -- and his co-conspirators in exchange for winning the hosting rights for the 2010 World Cup.

Asked specifically about that bribe, and whether it was he who paid it, Blatter said on Saturday: "If such a thing is somewhere in investigations, let the investigation go. Definitely, that's not me."

However, two banks who were named in the indictment have launched international enquiries into whether they were used for corrupt payment by FIFA officials, according to the BBC.

Standard Chartered has confirmed it will be investigating the reports, while Barclays will also review its services. HSBC has yet to comment on the allegations.

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